Ragnarok begins, 22nd Feb 2014

The Norse pantheon’s Ragnarok begins on 22nd Feb 2014 and once more hilarity prevails in the UK’s popular press as another apocalyptic flag lands in our time period[1] but the world doesn’t come to an end. Like the Mayan prediction of an apocalypse in 2012 the source of the humour requires ignorance of the word’s meaning, revelation. Perhaps coincidentally numerous incredible facts about the establishment are currently being revealed routinely, thanks to the technology of our age. Either way the resulting irony is that, as apocalypse after apocalypse comes through our internet connections[2], some continue to chuckle at the absurd idea our world will end forever[3].

The concept of such an ending is relatively new[4]. When it came to the motion of time the evidence is most belief systems from our distant past understood our reality to be locked into a cyclical, spiral-like movement. Like the seasons, periods of time would come, go, and then return. In a modern context the observable orbit of our planet, in its tight spiral around the sun, added to our understanding of the relativity of time, does tend to suggest this view might have merit[5]. More so than our popular culture’s widely accepted version of life as a straightforward narrative with a beginning middle and end.

The idea of an ending is deeply comforting to those who wish to escape their situation but the belief systems of the past offer no solace to those who wish to escape themselves. The concept of reincarnation, whether it involves a return to this world, or a move to an “afterlife”, is a good example. Either way the continuation of your existence brings with it the unresolved errors of your character. This is why it was Buddha’s intent to become enlightened, he wanted to escape his unending cycle of birth and death, the curse of reincarnation. In a modern context many rationalists dismiss such notions as fantasy, successful only because it nulls the impotence of a finite existence.

However, I believe criticism reveals more about the critic than the criticised and am fascinated by the way many avoid the easily discovered definition of the word “apocalypse”. Perhaps those who fantasise about it meaning a final ending, rather than a revealing and truly apocalyptic era, are subconsciously begging to be released from the process without performing the necessary self improvement which the majority of religions speak of. Given the nature of the information we’re now being flooded with it’s perhaps understandable why this might be the case for our world’s would-be rulers. If you’d spent your life thinking you were in charge and so could treat others as you please, a linear narrative with the promise of a clear escape at the end might be more appealing than a world view which implies a long and personally painful period of atonement.

Fans of “The Aquarian Conspiracy” will enjoy the fact the period of Ragnarok traditionally ends with the earth covered in water.

[1] One, of many, examples: “The end of the world is almost upon us if Norse mythology is to be believed,” The Independent.

[2] Two prominent examples, in the UK Sir Jimmy Savile and the extent of establishment paedophilia, in the US the Government’s use of the NSA is another. Feel free to add more into the comments section, the list is endless.

[3] It’s possible this is a simple misunderstanding or it might be an Aunt Sally.

[4] The linear narrative of history, with it’s convinient-for-some notion of an “ending” is attacked without mercy by the philosopher John Gray in his work, “Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia”. Well worth a read.

[5] Added to the fact the sun also moves in a similar fashion within its part of our spiral galaxy.